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Painting the new FV body

by Banksy | Feb 28, 2015 | Formula Vee | 0 comments

I cover the FV chassis in plastic wrap for protection against the onslaught of filler and resin in the coming days.

Laying on foam and spray foam to get the new outline close to where I want it.

Using the sureform file to shape the foam.

The first of five gallons of bondo goes on the foam.

Lots of sanding and shaping

More bondo and sanding

More bondo and sanding

Even more bondo and sanding

Need more bondo and sanding now

Sanding with the longboard to get the coke bottle shape that I want

Checking the symmetry

Masking the Dzus fasteners for primer

Ready for urethane primer

Sanding the primer smooth

Clear coat over the primer

I must make the male plug perfectly smooth to allow the female mold to release properly

Wax with Meguiar's Mold Release Wax

Very shiny and smooth with the nice coke bottle shape at the nose to provide a nice laminar flow with no airflow separation

Mold release is brushed on to the male buck

6 layers of fiberglass mat in polyester resin to make the female mold

Lots of resin and glass

I mean - a lot of glass!

Cutting the nose away with the Fein tool

You can see how much the nose is raised from the old body

The female mold released from the old body/male buck

The nose mold with foan, etc. still inside

Nose mold with buck pieces removed

I cut the nose mold in half and lay up flanges. This will make releasing the new mold easier

Aligning, trimming and filling the new mold

I spray the new mold with mold release

The nose mold with flanges

I made patterns of the body mold and laid them on the 8 yards of carbon fiber for cutting

This is the mold for the lower part of the nose

Fitting the CF into the nose mold

Many yards of fiberglass, kevlar and carbon fiber cut in preparation for layup

I laid in two layers of 6 oz. fiberglass using West System 105 epoxy resin and 205 fast hardener. The the first of two layers of 5 oz. kevlar per the rules

5 oz. kevlar, first layer going on

First layer of CF over the kevlar/fiberglass layers

Second layer of CF is in now, that's all for the body. Took almost a full gallon of epoxy resin and 8 yards of CF.

Nose mold with mold release wax laid in

Laying up the CF over two layers of fiberglass. I use fiberglass as a top layer because it is much easier to sand than CF and sanding kevlar is a fool's errand - just try it someday!

The nose bottom laid up

I remove the nose cone from the mold

Nose cone ready for trimming, fitting and assembly to the lower part

The lower part of the nose cone

Trimming the sides before I remove the body from the mold

Using the Fein tool to trim the upper rear flashing

Removing the body from the mold

Fresh out of the mold with mold release film flaking off

Another nice February day in Seattle, probably 60 degrees outside

Still have to trim all of the edges and openings

Using an angle to trim the sides perfectly straight

Fitting the body to the car

The body weighs 7 lbs. about 20 lbs. lighter than the old body that I made last year

Trimming and fitting the engine cowl to the new body

Fitting the nose cone

Trimming the nose cone around the beam. The beam is now one inch farther forward than before

Fitting the bottom of the nose to the upper part

Gluing the bottom of the nose to the top part with eposy thickened with filleting silica

I use epoxy and more carbon fiber to attach the joint plate to the body. The plate will hold the springs for the Dzus fasteners that I will install in the nose

I lay another coat of resin on the new body so I can sand it smooth

Fitted to the FV

Looks better than it used to

Sister katwoman specified Sherwin Williams Candy Apple Laser Red

First urethane primer and fill all the pinholes

The the special silver basecoat Kathy specified to really make the cany aple red pop in the sun

First coats of red midcoat looks pink

I had to get another quart of laser red to get the color fully developed

With two quarts of red basecoat mixed with 2 quarts of reducer/catalyst - that's four full quarts of midcoat alone to get the deep candy apple red.

Then a full quart (four coats) of clear over the red midcoat

With a qurat of urethane, half a quart of base silver, four quarts of laser red and a quart and a half of clear, I have about $550 in paint alone on this body.

Looks good, can't wait to get it in the sun!

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1947 Monk Cruiser
1979 Van Diemen Formula Ford
1985 Bluebird Wanderlodge PT36
- PT36 Flooring
- PT36 Jacks
1995 Lotus Esprit
Cobra Daytona Coupe-R
Formula Mazda
Frame and suspension restoration
Marshall Sanderling
PT36 Engine Bay
PT36 Landing lights
Snow-Trac Index Restoration
Snowcat Restoration
Triumph TR6
Wittman Buttercup
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge “The Acme of Foolishness”
New Formula Vee Build
The Red SL 350
- Metralla painting
- Blue SL 350
1972 Citroen DS 21 Pallas
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Recent Posts

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Painting the new FV body February 28, 2015
diasio finished January 24, 2015

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